Flow meter



2 sheets-sheet 1 FLOW METER Filed April 26, 1938 Vga A; HOLLANDER ladvar ffollcznder INVENToR BMK XD. @6MM ATroRNEY Apnl 16, 1940.

, A. HQLLANDER FLow Marsa Filed April 26. 193s 2. shutssheet 2 Azad@ ffyzzander INVENTOR ATroRNEY Patented `Api'. 16,

UNITED s-'rATissl ,PATENT vor'rilcii;l

mow incarna'4 Aladar Hollander, Los Angeles, Calif., -assigner to Byron Jackson Co., Huntington Park, Calif., a corporation of Delaware I Application April 26,1938, sel-iai No. 204,346 v 1 Claim.. (Cl. 'I3-213) This invention relates generally to owr'neters,

` and more particularly to a ow meter of the pressure differentialtype.

In the usual Venturi meter, 'the primary elementconsists of `a Venturi tube comprising af converging section and a diverging section of pipe interposed in the uid conduit, the smaller ends of the sections being connected by a short cylindrical section termed the throat.: Piezometer tubes are connected respectively at the throat and at the approach thereto, to transmit the pressures'at these points tothe secondary element which measures the pressure differential.

The degree of accuracy of `a Venturi -meter depends chieiiy .on two factors, namely: (l) Athe amount of disturbance in thev streamL on the' up.- stream side of the throat;. and (2) .the amount of deilection in the secondary element; A smooth, straight approach of uniform diameter, withno obstructions or irregularities for al considerable distance, is required for maximum.- accuracy. `Also, the greater the deiiection in the secondary` element, or in other words the greater the 'pres sure differential, the higher the degree -of accuracy obtainable;

Aprincipal object of this invention is to pro' vide a Venturi meter in which the approach is 'perfectly smoothand freeof all' disturbing ele being disposed parallel' to the direction of vflow ments, the wall of the -conduitbeingan unbroken cylinder extending from the downstream side of the primary' element to a point sum.;-

cientlyupstream therefrom `to insure uniform flow conditions.`

An objectionable feature of the standard Venturi'meter in many instances is the fact that intion; must'be provided to 'insure uniformity of i flow, this requirement togetherwith the 1'eq1 iirev ment that the point of installation of the tube be accessible results in theusual provision `of at f least 20'diameters of readily accessible straight.

' conduit solely for this purpose.

A further and importantiobject of this iriveni tion is to provide'a flow meter which is insertible into and removable from a fluid conduit without disturbing the conduit at the point where the meter is located. -The meter is insertible into the conduit ata remote point and may befpositioned at a point which is Vnot accessible from the outside. inaccessible pipe of suflicent length may Abe uti# installed under these In this way alstr'aight section 'of' lized as the approach andV receding sections lfoi the meter. An example of this'is' the utilization of the upper portion of the" discharge column 'oi val d eep well pump. The meter of this in-yention niayhe inserted through the -disch'argeelbow at4 the surface andniovedthe desired distance down-J wardly withinjth'e column. To instal-1 a standard Venturi meter insuch agiionduit it wouldbe necessary to raise the discharge column upwardly" meter, it maybe installed in .the l'scharge"column ofa bored wellonly. slightly'lar'ger thanthecolumn. A standard Venturi meter could notdbe conditions, because of the outside tubes. l The two .foregoing objects, namelyl A the in-j creased accuracy and ,ease of insertion and rev moval, 4are accomplished by the provision'of a removable restriction in which the pressure tubesl are incorporated. The high' pressure tube is dis` posed 'with its. open .endg at .the upstreami'exa.

tremity of the restriction and exposed .tothe .combined static andvelocity/ headj'of .the lfluid,

While the. low pressure tube terminates opposite the restricted passage formed 4,around .the re stricti'on, the open en'd of the low pressure tube so as to be subjected onlydzo thev pressure-.head

mounted on the` inner end of an elongated sup.-

portin'g'niemberl extending to. a-remo te point on thedownstream side Yofthe Irestriction. A further object of this invention is to prof erentialv type -wherein the pressure 4tubes .are

unit, theentire unit-being attached toa support- Aing member manipulablef-rom-,a -remote point:

. 30l inthe restricted passage. 'The' restriction is vide a removable-dow meter of`the` pressure diff Other more specific objects and advantages'will,

drawings', wherein:

per portion of a vwell, showing a flow-meter" in` Astalled' therein inaccordancev with this-invention; and

' Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, 'the invention is shown-as applied tothedischa'rge column Fi'g. 1 is a'lo'ngitudinal section through the up-l become apparent from' the following description taken in 'coniunctionswith the accompanying..

ofa well pump, illustrating a typical instance o f' a situation wherein the invention 'is lparticularly advantageous. A discharge column I is suspended within a well casing 2, the column being threadedly connected to and supported by a special ange 3 resting on a base plate Il supported by a suitable foundation at the top of the well.

which might disturb the uniformity of'ilow of Dumped liquid.

A discharge elbow is connected to the upper J end -oi' the discharge .column A flange 5 is j formed on the elbow, defining a threaded opening 'I coaxial with the discharge column. An annular plug 8 is threaded in the opening, and the lower end of the plug is threadedly connected to an elongated tube 9, preferably of brass or other noncorridible material. 'Ihe tube is of a length to extend downwardly withinl the discharge column a suicient distance to eliminate the effect of the elbow 5 on the pressure differential readings, and has a coupling I 0 connected to the lower end thereof. Secured to the coupling is a hollow member I5 having an enlarged central portion tapering toward each end. The enlarged central portion is supported substantially concentrically within the column I by a spider of rubber or other resilient material, the spider having a central hub I8 supported between` opposed shoulders on the coupling `III and member I5, and a plurality of radially extending webs I'I.

An annular channel 2|! of reduced cro sectional area with respect to the full area of the column I is`thus formed between the member to the restricted throat of a standard Venturi tube. A number of relatively small holes 2l are formed in the member I5 at the cylindrical section of the enlarged central portion thereof, the faces of the holes being disposed parallel to the direction of flow of the fluid and consequently subjecting the interior of the member I5 to the pressure head in the stream at that point.

A. second tube 22 is supported within tube 9, being threadedly connected at its lower end to a nipple 22 mountedin the nose of the member I5, and extending upwardly through the bore of the annular plug 8 and clamped in position by 'a'. clamping nut 24 secured to the upper end thereof. A port 25 is formed in the nipple 23, thus subjecting the interior of tube 22 to the combined static head and velocity head of the stream of fluid at the centerof the column I, on the upstream side of the restriction. The upper end of thetube 22-is connected by a conduit 2l to one leg 2i' of a manometer Il. The interior of the outer'tube l is connected by a similar conduit 3i .to the other leg 32 of the manometer.

, The inner tube 22 is in effect a Pitot tube, while e the outer tube I and'ports 2I correspond to the piwometer tube connected to the throat of y the standard Venturi tube. For a given rateof flow, the difference between the velocity head at port '25 andthe pressure head at 2| will be greater than that between the pressure heads at the same points. The deflection of the'mercury column will consequently be greater, resulting in a higher degree of accuracy of measurement, comparable with that obtainable in a Venturi meter only by rstigicting the size of thethroat to a greater e d.

aleman Bymounting the obstruction member I5 on the tube 9 and supporting the latter in the elbow 5, many advantages are obtained. By supporting the restriction 20 so as not to interfere with the uniformity of flow at the measuring points. By

- disconnecting the elbow flanges, the elbow 5 and the meter may be removed as a unit, without disturbing the position of the discharge column.

The rubber spider supports the member I5 concentric with the column, and-is removable therewith, serving as a guide member during insertion .and removal.

Manipulation of the meter from a remote point has the distinct advantageof permitting the installation of the meter in a conduit at a point which 'is inaccessible from the outside, making it possible to dispense with the usual approach pipe and Venturi tube in the open.

While I have shown, for purpose of.,illustra tion, an obstruction member generally in the form of a double cone, it will be understood that the member I5 may take any desired shape. It

e is preferable, however, that it be streamlined to some degree to avoid excessive turbulence at the measuring points.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a slightly modified form 4of mounting for the primary element of the meter.' In this instance a T 5' is substituted for the elbow 5 of Fig. 1, and the plug 8' vis threaded into a central opening 'I' in a removable plate 6' detachably secured to the T. Otherwise this form of the invention is identical with that shown in Fig. 1. 'Ihis form has the advantage of greater ease of removal of the meter, since it is .unnecessary to remove the T for this purpose, the meter being insertible and removable through the T after detaching the cover plate 5'.

The restriction I5' of the form of the invention illustrated'in Fig. 2 is also modified slightly by the provision of a nipple 23' having a sharply tapered nose, instead of the blunt nose of the nipple 23 of Fig. 1. The sharply tapered nose; decreasing downwardly to a narrow ledge around the opening 25', splits and guides the stream in the annular channel 20'.

Iclaim:

restriction member to a remote p oint on the downstream' side Aof said restriction member, said remote point and movable axially within the Asupportingmember and restriction member being insertible as a unit into the conduit at said conduit to operative position, a centering spider associated with said restriction member and disposed downstream with respect to said annular channel. at a distance therefrom sufficient to avoidinterference with the uniformity of flow through the channel, said spider being movable withsaid supporting and restriction members axially within the conduit-and having slidable engagement with the conduit, said restriction member having a forwardly directed orifice therein on the upstream side of said channel and a laterally directed orice communicating directly with the channel, and pressure conduits associated with said supporting member and connected at one end to said orifices and adapted to be connected to a pressure-responsive indicator at points beyond said remote point.

ALADAR HOLLANDER. 

